Pirates! Gold

The Good
I like the fact that it did not add historically inaccurate things, like large monsters, to the otherwise smooth interpretation of the daily activities of your average pirate, such as plundering, treasure hunting, swordplay, sea battles, etc. It is mind-numbingly easy to get the gist of the game, but total mastery is not easy to come by. Excellent replay value.

The Bad
The sameness of all the locations, the music can get to you after a few hours. Overall, not much to dislike. Could use some more pirate-style debauchery, though.

The Bottom Line
An excellent way to live some high-seas fantasies, if you can find it cheap enough. Mine cost me $29, but that was an online auction service.

The Good
Free play! I loved being able to control my own destiny. You're not forced to get on with the game, though you do slow down as you get older. Being able to create my own captain was another high point for me. I'd much rather play any game with a character of my own design than a pre-made one. That coupled with the different time periods assures that you'll never play the same game twice. And I just wanted to thank Eric Olson of Merrimack, NH for introducing me to the game. And Eric! If you're reading this, drop me an e-mail. Class of 96 baby!!!

The Bad
Sailing against the wind. There's nothing worse than a slow moving ship when you're on your way to get the treasure fleet. And yeah the music can be annoying at times. But I haven't played the game in well over ten years and I can still remember it like it was my own life. How can you down a game that does that.

The Bottom Line
Infinite games in one small work of art. "I couldn't put my controller down (for 12 hours straight!)." A must play for would-be pirates and gamers alike. Live a pirate's life, accurately, in the safety of your own living room.

The Good
In Pirates Gold! You play a young man who dreams of being a mighty pirate like Guybrush Threepwood or like the guy from Captain Hampton and you take control of the ship by fighting the captain and starting the 10 Great Pirate Quests which include Get married, finding long lost relatives, finding the silver train and the treasure fleet the more you accomplish the better the ending you get when you retire.

The music is amazing from the tavern or the world map to plundering a town or ship. The graphics are very well done and this game even though people like to think GTA is the first to do freeform this game predates those games by 7 years the original Pirates came out in 1990.

The Bad
Your crew gets angry too often you’ll plunder a city and minutes later they are angry again and sometimes you get bothered on the sea too much and the sea dogfights can drag on too long.

The Bottom Line
For me this game is very nostalgic and that's i like it so much and this game is difficult to find so if you're not sure about it get the ROM.

The Good
This game has a very interesting premise in my opinion. Playing as a pirate is very satisfying. The graphics, while hardly amazing, are pretty good and are a joy to behold. They just exude the atmosphere of piracy on the high seas, along with the sounds which just stop short of making you burst out into a sea shanty as your family watches in horror. There is plenty for you to do in this game also. You can raid ships, plunder cities (even overthrow the governor and install a new one to your liking), search for buried treasure, find an ancient Indian treasure, hold other pirates for ransom, raid the treasure fleet, and impress regional governors to attain ranks (which attract the ladies) and gain land (which increase your score).

The Bad
The combat system is where the game goes from great to just good. First, in ground battles, you command your own character who attacks the enemy's leader. How well you do in this battle effects the morale of your's and his troops, which determines how many casualties each side takes. this is in effect, pretty lame. Those hoping for a strategic battle between pirates and the town's militia will be disappointed, as the majority of ground combat is senseless button mashing. Just keep your character stabbing constantly and you will most likely win. The sea combat is ok. It involves steering around your ship (if you have more than one, you can still only have one fighting per battle) and pressing the attack button which fires a salvo of cannons. You can also, ram a ship to board it. Again, not all that terrible, but certainly it could be better. A variety of annoying bugs may plague you occasionally such as the cannons on your ship not appearing in a battle, your ship not being armed with cannons despite the fact you have cannons in your inventory, and the gold that you have accumulated on your ship disappearing after a battle. Some of the cargo feels a bit rushed also. A total of three items for any time period (Always food, occasionally there is tobacco instead of furs, yipee! ) The lack of interesting cargo inventory makes the game seem a bit less realistic.

The Bottom Line
Hardly a great game, but certainly worth a look. They are coming out with a newer version sometime this year, so we might be seeing more pirates soon;)

The Good
This game was a part of my life for at least 5 years. I played it for 5 years and that is all I wanted to play. I never got tired of it. I never wanted to buy anything else. Although my first experience of playing was on a commodore 64 (I guess that's how you spell commodore), I spent most of my time on our new computer. And it gave a taste of power, prestige, and success. The game had spunk, unlike the more confusing games nowadays, you don't have to push all these buttons. Unfortanately, I am not the best of players when it comes to games and Pirates!Gold was as easy as Pirates. Now, I can't let go of the memory of ignoring my girlfriend (now wife), while on the phone, playing that game. Unfortunately, it recently broke and I had to take it off of the computer since it was taking up my mother's computer space about two years ago. But the game is certainly a classic. Educational too.

The Bad
Sometimes the game errored and I had to start all over, unless I saved what I played. And I cannot find who owns it, so I cannot buy it again because every one says it's a lost item. I also wanted other versions to travel across the world, like Australia, Japan, Europe, etc. etc. etc. This game would be even better if it could support a history teacher in a lesson, with valid information about towns and the such, I know I would buy it.

The Bottom Line
GET IT and PLAY IT and see for yourself, but you can't just play it once. Get the hang of it and you will win all of the time. Because it's Greaaaaat, as Tony the Tiger says.

The Good
The ability to start a pirating career with a green crew and a small ship and finally becoming a man of wealth and honor was never more fun. Depending on how well you do, the game will reveal the fate of your character. The fortune, women, and property you amass will be waiting for you in retirement. These dynamic endings make playing this game well worth it.

The Bad
Saving every other screen on 2 different save slots because of all the BUGS! The crash bugs in this game would make this game unplayable if it weren't so rewarding to make it to the finish.

The Bottom Line
Cruising the caribbean looking for gold, women, and fame was never better. Although you may never make it to the finish because of the odds of a fatal game bug, it is definitely worth trying!

The Good
This game is great. The setting, 17th centuary pirates, is sadly one (along with mideavil europe and fuedal japan) of the under used game worlds. I have never played the original Pirates but it looks great. This game is an updated version of Pirates and is worth the money since Pirates is hard to find (read Hard). The only problem with it is the fact that it needs to be patched to work right (just go to MSN and search for Pirates! Gold and you'll eventually find a web with the Pirates! Gold Patch.) Besides that the game is wonderfull, everything is wonderfull, buy it, buy it now!

The Bad
The fact that if you play it under Win 95 or 98 it will crash if you don't patch it.

The Bottom Line
Buy it now.